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Zonta Supports Literacy - Denise Aiani |
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For most of history, the term "literate" has meant a well-educated person familiar with literature. In the last hundred years or so, it has also come to refer to the basic ability to read and write. An illiterate person may be incapable of reading even a shopping list, or they may be functionally illiterate. Functionally illiterate, means they can read or write to some degree, such as in a job setting, but are otherwise are illiterate. One thing is certain, in this country, there are too many people who are illiterate in some form. Many have been so since childhood. At one elementary school in Simi Valley, California, teachers, administrators and staff are struggling with a wave of students moving through the school this year, whose first language is not English, and who are illiterate. Many are illiterate in their first language, as well as their second. This is the first year that Justin has been designated as an ESL school, and support programs for these struggling students are not yet fully in place. As teachers strive to support these students, the school library struggles to include in its holdings, books and literacy materials to meet the needs of the increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse school population. The Literacy Committee of the Zonta Club of the Conejo Valley Area, last month, sent $500 to Justin for the purchase of many of these literacy materials so desperately needed. Some of the books to be purchased contain both Spanish and English text. Included on Justin's wish list are Spanish English Dictionaries, and C.D. programs to reach these second language students. Also on the list are books that represent students from a wider variety of cultures and background experiences than previous holdings did. Additionally, Donna Dalton, Betty Norton's daughter, donated approximately thirty Time Life Books to Justin. The remainder of the literacy funds have been set aside for another program in need. The second program currently being considered for funding is an after school homework support program connected with Many Mansions, as well as their Teen Leadership Program. Zonta International, as well as our own local club, have a long history of literacy support. Perhaps in the next hundred years, illiteracy in all forms will not even exist. |
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